Carl Richardson Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 What do you guys think of using the lost wax casting method to make the general blade for my first knife and I can just grind it down and polish it up? I found a company near me in PA that does lost wax and wanted to know what you think http://www.ppcpinc.com/lost_wax_casting.html Also how is damascus design done on blades? it looks awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBower Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 What do you guys think of using the lost wax casting method to make the general blade for my first knife and I can just grind it down and polish it up? I found a company near me in PA that does lost wax and wanted to know what you think http://www.ppcpinc.com/lost_wax_casting.html Also how is damascus design done on blades? it looks awesome! If you're trying to make a Bronze Age knife, casting would be a good way to go about it. A steel blade, not so much. Search the archives here -- or the Net generally -- for tutorials on pattern welding. That'll answer your question about "damascus." (The scare quotes aren't intended to be insulting; I just don't like to use the term Damascus for pattern welding, because I have an idea what real Damascus steel was -- and it wasn't pattern welded. I understand that you probably don't know the difference. That's OK.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dablacksmith Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 would not use casting to make a knife. the reason involves the difference that the grain structure between a cast steel and a forged steel cast will generally break easyier .what they call damascus today is pattern welded steel and there are books written about it . in a nutshell its 2 different steels welded together then manipulated . after grinding they are etched to show the differences between the 2 steels .if you are looking to start makeing knives there are companys that make blade blanks in a variety of sizes and styles .good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Hale Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 There is at least one maker that makes cast blades and knives. Google Boye dendritic knives if you woould like more info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
son_of_bluegrass Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 I remember reading about Boye's dendritic steel and believe he uses a specific alloy and I think it is relatively high in Cobalt. ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBower Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 Yeah, but those aren't steel. They're mainly cobalt and chromium, with a bunch of other alloying elements. Iron is a small fraction of the composition. Not even close to a project for a first-timer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin (the professor) Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 go with Matt - he knows what he is writing. either forge or just get a bar of steel and grind away the parts that don't look like a knife. or, cast bronze and hammer the edges to make them hard. that would be a heck of a project, and really beautiful. kc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason0012 Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 Boye was originally casting those in D-2, and they got pretty favorable reviews, though heat treating D-2 isn't for the novice. Probably best to stick with simple alloys and grind or forge the first few. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBower Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 Boye was originally casting those in D-2, and they got pretty favorable reviews, though heat treating D-2 isn't for the novice. Probably best to stick with simple alloys and grind or forge the first few. Casting D2 wouldn't exactly be for the novice, either! I'm not sure I even understand what the point would be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason0012 Posted May 22, 2010 Share Posted May 22, 2010 As I recall he was trying to find a way to produce inexpensive copies of forged blades- complete with hammer marks and on some, file teeth. D-2 was necessary to compensate for loosing strength in the casting process. There was a company casting blades in 1045 too, but I don't even forge blades out of steel that cheap!(I think they were located in India) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
me miller Posted May 22, 2010 Share Posted May 22, 2010 Fred Carter from Wichita Falls, Texas also did a line of cast 440C BLADES. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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